Friday, January 20, 2006

Oh dear!

Mona and Linda just told me that the gym in Taipan is only opened for pre-registration! The gym will only be fully operational in June 2006! Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! What am I supposed to do? The wedding is in 3 weeks time! I am going to be bulging here and there if I don't lose SOME weight! LOL! *grin*

Hmmm........btw, I only had salad for lunch today. Will that help? *wink*

Thursday, January 19, 2006

I am signing up!

That's it! M signing up for that gym in Taipan!

I went out lunch time today to get the dress 4 my brother's wedding this coming February. Gosh! I look terrible in it! I look FAT! That's it F-A-T! I don't think I want to wear it for the wedding, but my sister insists that we all wear the `uniform'! Uurrgghhh!!!!

Do U think if I start the excercise regime now, I'll be able to lose weight in time 4 d wedding? *wink* Or am I gonna gain a few more kilos 1st (muscle weight) b4 I can start losing weight? Oh dear! *sigh*

Completed the 3rd in a series!

Yipee! I finished the June (my birthday month! hint! hint! *wink*) series of the L*K Stamp-it! Now to go onto the 4th series - February, which I am stitching in concurrent with the Valentine Stitched Card Exchange being organised at MYS.

I will report on the progress again next week and every week (hopefully) after this, since now we are kind of organising a WIP Report every Thursday at MYS. We are suppose to set aside 2 hrs of stitching every Wednesday nite and report to the board our progress the next morning. Hope to report more progress next week.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

A lot to be thankful for....

I read about Kaitlin at Harsha's blog and I am thankful that my son is generally healthy. Except for the minor asthmatic attacks frm time to time and the usual fever and flu that he keeps getting every time any member of the family gets it, he is a healthy boy and a very curious one too(just like the mommy! LOL! *wink*)!

He is adjusting well to the new school, and seems to enjoy going to school. I am thankful for that. I hope he will always enjoy going to school right into his university days. It is the mummy that is having a headche because till this day (3rd week of school), the school has yet to give him his school uniform and school text books.

I know that he does learn something at school, probably using the limited number of books available, but I could not tell what he is learning because I have no text books to refer to. I worry since this is the preparation year. My son does not seem to mind. *grin* He is happy that there are no homeworks because the previous school gives out homework at least 3 times a week and for 4 subjects - math, english, mandarin & bahasa melayu.

Oh well.....just hope that he will be ready for formal school next year.....

I am thankful for the home that we live in (especially my craft room!). I am thankful for a hubby that understands me and my never ending rotation of hobbies! LOL! I am thankful for the career that I have and hope that I will keep moving forward in my career. I am thankful for the friends that I have who understands me and stood by me through thick and thin. I am thankful for the good health that I have and hope to live long enough and healthy to see my son go thru college, get a job, get married and have children of his own. I also hope that my hubby will be with me till the day I close my eyes forever for I need his strength to get me going.

I am thankful for everything that Allah has given me. I am blessed.

May I have patience........

I am groggy from lack of sleep again. Woke up early to `spy' on my maid to see if she did what she said she did. She said that she vacuums the carpet every Wednesday morning b4 she sweeps and mops the floor. But I don't remember ever hearing the sound of vacuumming on Wednesday mornings nor any mornings for that matter! LOL!

Why spy? Because the last time I commented that the floor was dusty, she said that she had already swept and mopped the floor, but when I swept the floor again, there were still lots of dust!

I think she probably did sweep the floor but only around the furniture. She does not move the furniture away to sweep underneath them. Whatever is underneath the furniture (including my son's toys) remains dusty, so when U sit at the dining table and pull the chairs away, your feet will get all black and dusty from dust. Get what I mean? So, I just need to see how she does her work myself, without her knowing that I am looking.

Oohh....she's good! Whenever I am around, she does things the way I had taught her (well, sometimes) to do, but the minute I am out of sight, she wud take short cuts to things. An example? The cleaning of my hot non-stick suacepan, for one. The other is when she washes the car. I have shown her how to properly vacuum the car. But d minute she thinks I am not looking, she will not vacuum the car, and hope that I will not notice it. When asked if she had vaccumed, she would say that she has. Try inspecting her work, and U can see sand, dust and dirt just the way it was b4 she supposedly vacuumed the car. Am I being fussy? Maybe, but my hubby is one person who is quite accommodating, but even HE has complained that she does not wash the car well.

When confronted with d question, "Nie kotor lagi nie?" (this is still dirty), and her answer would be, "oh..di situ belum lagi. Sabarlah!" (ohh..I haven't done this one yet. Be patient!). She's asking me to `sabar' (be patient)? She does not know how patient I have been with her. Each time I pray, I ask Allah to give me patience to deal with people like this. It is no wonder that some employers just slaps their maid when they cud no longer tolerate such behavior. May Allah forbid I ever do that. When the time comes for when I cud no longer tolerate, I will just have to be without a maid. *sigh*

Sorry that I have been blabbering a lot about my maid lately. I know I sound so fussy each time I blabber about my maid. I am hoping that I will no longer have to blabber about her anymore after this, for I am hoping that she will improve or I have begun to get accustomed to her faults.

I am still thankful that I do not have to deal with d trauma of a maid running away (like Ina's maid did), and may Allah prevent that from ever happening, insyaAllah. May Allah protect us all.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

I did it! Introducing.......

heheh..nothing great, really! LOL! *wink* I just started a new group at Yahoo! That is what I did. Yeah, told U it was nothing great, but I am excited just the same! *grin*

My purpose of starting the group? Oopps! BTW, the group is called Malaysian Crafters2Crafters, in short MyC2C, to be pronounced as my-see-to-see. U can get the link from the side bar of this blog.

Ok, back to my purpose. I have long been toying with the idea of selling some of my handmade craft products. It all started out quite simply because friends like my handmade cards, exclusive card blanks for cross stitch, tuck pillows and finishing work (thank you, friends, for all your support!). I thought why not turn my hobbies into something that can bring me some extra cash - to spend on more stash! LOL! *wink*

At the moment I only sell to friends. I thought of opening up the market a little bit to see if there are demands for my handmade craft products. I don't actually intend to make a living out of my hobbies, well, for now, at least, but who knows.....*wink*

I have been looking 4 venues on how to promote my crafts but couldn't find one that is simple enough (for someone that is not so IT savvy *wink*) and cheap enough too LOL! *wink* The other and more professional alternative is 2 actually set up a proper website, but I want to test the waters first before I go head on into doing so (setting up a website).

I have already set up a webshot album to showcase my works and craft products. I just need to tell more people about it. One is to promote it here. The other is to set up a group where other like-minded people (Wendy, I know you may be reading this, so you are included in the like-minded people category *wink*) can come together to share their passion and at the same time, look for supplies which they would need for their craft projects, or simply need a handmade card to send to their love ones.

That is what MyC2C is all about - a place where buyers meet sellers for craft supplies. I am hoping for more buyers than sellers, but I wouldn't mind if there are equal numbers of both. It will create more interest and I hope that the group will grow and progress into something that will benefit all parties involved.

Here's wishing myself GOOD LUCK! *wink*

Monday, January 16, 2006

Buy her perfume?

Harsha wrote : hey Nik.. try buying her a nice smelling perfume lah.. those mild ones LOL.. since she eally like to use perfume *grins*

LOL! Thanks, Harsha, but, no, I dn't think I'll buy her perfume. She will think that I had given her d green light to melaram pula. LOL! Nanti lebih lebih pula dia! I did buy her some nice smelling soap and new clothes when she first came, but her body odour is so bad, it actually camouflaged the sweet smelling soap!

She is actually one women who is simply lazy to take her bath, even after she had done housework and smells from sweat. When I told her to take a bath (after much pestering), she would put on back d same clothes she wore earlier (the one that smells from the perspiration)! I had to tell her to change into something fresh! Really!

She does not have enough clothes to wear, you say? I did just mention that I bought her new clothes when she first came because the few clothes that she brought with her was either very tight, short (where the tummy shows) or see-thru! Did she actually come to work as a maid or to work in a bar!!

And another thing.......she is simply lazy to wash her smelly clothes and would pile them up high in a basket on the floor that they were almost reaching the window sill. Add to that, her clothes smells and makes the whole room smelly! Really terrible! That is how bad this new maid is. *sigh* Even after I told her to wash her own clothes each time after she takes her bath in the morning, she still piles them up though not as bad. I don't have this kind of hygienic problem with my two previous maids.

I am tired.....

..from lack of sleep due to stress which is not work related but rather, from maid problems. *sigh* Also I had to get up early this morning to cook breakfast for my son. I'll get back to that one later. *wink*

I am one of those people who just cannot stand the smell of perfumes, especially those strong spelling ones. They gives me the headaches.

A few days after my maid arrived, she started wearing perfumes (Did I tell you that she also wore make up d 1st few days here until I told her not to? *puzzled*). I told her not to put it on due to d headaches that it is causing me. As usual, she has to give me excuses. This time it is because she has a new bottle and wants to wear it. I told her NO! Just keep the perfume and wear it when she goes back to her home country.

You wonder why maids want to wear perfume. For goodness sake, they are working as a MAID, not at a perfume counter nor a factory! I just hope that she is not up to no good. May God protect us.

Anyway, back to the present day, last nite my maid wore the perfume again. I could smell it the minute I walked into the kitchen. By then she had already gone up to bed. I switched on the fan to let the smell out and went to bed.

This morning, the minute I opened the my bedroom door, *whiff!* the smell was even stronger! She had put on more! Gosh! I almost wanted to throw out! I had to open up all the windows downstairs and switch on all the fans to get the smell out! Has she forgotten that I had forbid her from wearing perfume, or was she purposely defying my instructions? She has done this before (defying my instructions), in fact, many times before. Sometimes I wonder if she is either simply dump or just simply trying to get on my nerves!

I now wake up early to cook breakfast for my son. Before this I would ask my maid to prepare sandwiches the night before or cook fried mee, kuey teow or fried rice in the morning. My son is bored of having sandwishes for breakfast everyday, and I can't trust my maid to prepare the breakfast in the morning anymore. This is also due to her defying my instructions.

I had clearly told her (many times) that after she is done frying the mee , kuay teow or rice, not to soak the non-stick pan immediately into the water since it will damage the non-stick surface, but to wait a while for the pan to cool. I told her to do other things like cleaning up the stove, watering the plants and getting my son ready for school. By then the pan would have been sufficiently cooled enough to be washed. But, does she listens? Nope! The minute she finishes frying, down it goes under the tap of running water! *sigh* Forget about asking her why she does it when I had clearly told her not to (soaking the pan). She probably has more than 1000 excuses ready to blurt them out to me! LOL!

Am I being too fussy? Maybe, but I think not, because my two maids before this could carry out my intructions with no problems. Actually, there were small problems with the maid before this one, but they were manageable ones. The previous one was simply too simple minded that she does not think further than what I tell her to do, so, I just assume that she knows nothing and teach her everything. Though hard at first to try to teach her everything, but at least, she would not go against any of my instructions.

The 1st maid was 1st class when it comes to work. She was simply efficient. I need only tell her to do anything only once. She has her own initiative to do work, but, alas, she does not want to work as a domestic help anymore when her contract expired, but instead wanted to try working in a factory. I wish her luck!

This present maid has worked for me close to 4 months already, but, still I am at the training stage because she keeps on going against my instructions. Every day I have to tell her to do this and that. I spend less time at my hobbies than I used to as when I had the previous maid because I now do all the cooking. She only helps with the preparation and the dishes. It takes me only 30 minutes to cook, but it takes her 1 hr just to prepare a simple meal of rice, fried chicken and mixed vegetables (the preparation part is not included because that is done much earlier). Why does it take her so long, you ask? Because she is not a multi tasker. When she boils eggs to make egg sandwishes, she stands by the pot waiting for the water to boil instead of doing other tasks while waiting. Duh! And she thinks she is smart! *grin*

*sigh* May Allah give me the patience to go through this.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Live another day......

and you will learn another thing......

Today I learned about web hosting, domain names and setting up websites ( I didn't actually set up a website, just learned what it is all about! LOL!) Thanks, brother, for sparing the time to explain to me! Hugs!

Before this, everything is a blur to me! LOL! Nope, I still don't know how to set up my own eshop, but at least I am not as duh as I was before my brother explained things to me! LOL! Before this I kinda got all things confused....as usual! LOL!

Wow! so much to learn! It is only just the tip of the iceberg, but, as long as U are willing to learn, a lot of opportunities will come ur way! Don't U agree?

It is said that the furure iliterates are those who are NOT willing to learn, unlearn and relearn. Very wise words, I think. Don't U agree?

Shame on me!

It was my hubby's birthday on January 9th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR! Love U! Muaaah!) but I did not get him a birthday pressie. My excuse? I was so preoccupied with things that has gotten me all stressed out, that I forgot to go out lunch time to buy him d gift! Shame on me!

Anyway, took him out to lunch on Monday, Jan. 9, at the DOME, Midvalley. The food is nothing much to shout about, but what is important is the company..MY COMPANY! LOL! *wink*

My son kept reminding me about abah's birthday all day Sunday. He wanted to buy abah something, but alas, my husband had a bad case of food poisoning all weekend, and my son came down with the flu!

See what I mean when I said that I kinda got myself in stressful situations? *wink* and I haven't even began to tell U the latest about my maid! LOL! Never mind that.....will tell U about that at a more suitable time and mood! For now, I am just in the mood to surf, looking for ideas on how to set up my eshop! *wink* Sounds like I am really serious about this, huh? *wink*

In case I forget, tomorrow is my niece's 14th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KUYA! My, U sure are growing up too fast!

How do I start tee......

Hmmmm...I have been thinking about this for some time but not being an IT nerd, I have to learn everything the hard way..you know..do research, ask silly questions, those sort of thing. *wink*

But, after chatting with a few friends (thanks Mona, Linda and Wendy for being so patient with me with all those silly questions!), as a start I have decided to inform visitors to this blog that I have a webshot album that features some of my work, which some are available for sale. U just need to send me an email asking for the price and postage charges.

I hope to one day set up my eshop (when my brother is free enough to set one up for his dear sister - which will have to be after his upcoming wedding in January, then his honeymoon, but hopefully, not after his wife delivers with their 1st child! LOL! *wink*).

I want to give this a try (selling my handmade products) because it has been something I had always wanted to try my hands on. I have always told my hubby that I am creative at coming up with handmade stuff, but I need him to do d sales for me since I am kind of shy! *wink* I want to be able to share my passion with people who appreciate things that are painstakingly put together.

So, friends, do drop by my webshot album at
http://community.webshots.com/album/115990376vnfXhY

I will be updating the album from time to time. Do come back often. Once my eshop is up, I will definitely put up a post!

Thanks!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Moments to treasure......

It is the new year and school has reopened. My hubby and I took leave the other day to send my son to school. Though this is his second year in kindergarten, but it was the 1st day at the new kindie. My MIL had moved to a new area, and the former school was simply too far away.

Although we wud have preferred for him to carry on at d previous kindie since we like the program there, it takes too long for him to get home. There were days when my son got home too tired that he refused to eat his lunch. Besides, the transport fee is also simply too high due to d distance.

Oh well....we have to move on...and my son is growing up too fast! Just d other day he asked us for a car.We thot he wanted a toy car, but, nooooo, he wanted a real life car!LOL! The reason? Abah drives too slow. He wants to go home quicklyso that he can get home sooner to play with his toys (that's thebaby in him! *grin*).He wants to take over the wheel! LOL! And last nite, I saw him`thinking' and when I asked him what was he thinking about, U want 2 know what he said? *wink* He was thinking of what type of car toget! When I asked him what car he wanted, he answered `would aVolvo do?'? ROTFL! I wanted to faint! *grin*

All buttoned up!

I got the idea for this card while browsing thru my many craft magazines *grin*. I kinda like the look of it. Kind of different, don't U think so? Many years ago I wud never have thot of doing up a card using buttons! LOL!

Live another day, learn another thing!